SOLEDAD &GT;&GT; A Watsonville man convicted of shooting his 18-year-old friend to death because of a debt in 1977 was released from Salinas Valley State Prison this month, authorities said.

Robert Ackerman, 55, was 18 and on LSD when he plotted to kill school pal Edward Silva, prosecutors said. After being denied parole at least 14 times, a state parole board on March 25 found Ackerman fit to return to society, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Ackerman was released to Tuolumne County on Aug. 15, said Luis Patino, a state corrections spokesman. Santa Cruz County prosecutors Tara George and Jeff Rosell argued against Ackerman's release at the March hearing.

"Based on the horrific nature of the crime, we believe he had a lack of insight into the crime," George said this week.

Silva's family did not attend the March hearing but wrote letters that opposed Ackerman's release.

Ackerman, the son of a Watsonville police lieutenant, owed Silva money in early 1977, authorities said. Ackerman used cocaine in his teen years, and the idea to kill Silva came to him in an LSD dream, according to a witness at his trial.

In January 1977, Ackerman talked a 15-year-old friend into helping him dig a grave in a wooded area off Mar Monte Avenue near La Selva Beach. A few days later, Ackerman lured Silva to the spot to look at marijuana plants.

Ackerman then shot Silva in the back with a .22-caliber pistol while the 15-year-old stood near them. After shooting Silva, Ackerman and the 15-year-old then went skateboarding for a while, then returned to rob Silva and cover the body, prosecutors said.

In the days that followed, Ackerman talked to the boy about why he did it. Ackerman traced "Ed is Dead" in the sand of La Selva Beach.

Not long after that, the 15-year-old later contacted authorities. Police found the body and later found a gun in Ackerman's Watsonville home.

In a trial in September 1977, a jury convicted Ackerman of first-degree murder, according to court records.

"There is a spectrum of killers, and to kill this guy for $30 ... This is a different class of criminal," Santa Cruz County Assistant District Attorney Jason Gill said in 2010.

Ackerman was sentenced to life in prison — but sentencing laws at the time allowed him eligibility for parole after seven years of incarceration.

Prison term

Ackerman was locked up at Pelican Bay State Prison and at Mule Creek State Prison near Sacramento in recent years. He had more than 50 rule violations during his 37 years in prison, authorities said. Yet prosecutor Tara George said he had not been in trouble in prison since 2003.

During parole hearings, a panel considers factors such as the original offense, the inmate's criminal record, his behavior in prison, psychological reports, drug and alcohol history, the inmate's "insight" into the crime and how he has changed.

The parole board also looks at the inmate's plan to support himself outside prison, and the potential threat to the public if he is released.

During the March parole hearing, Ackerman said he improved himself.

"I've learned a lot about addiction since I've been incarcerated. And it affected a lot of my decision making, but the worst thing that it did was it made me kind of like drew a curtain across my morality and my compassion," Ackerman said during the parole hearing. A transcript of the hearing was obtained by the Sentinel this week.

"I just became so selfish and self-absorbed that I didn't consider other people's rights, other people's feelings. And I basically ... just became morally bankrupt," Ackerman said.

In its decision, members of the parole board said Ackerman's age of 55 would reduce his risk of reoffending. Members also said that some psychological evaluations in prison showed he was a "low risk."

The board hinted that Ackerman may return to Santa Cruz County in part because his brother lives in Watsonville and another brother owns a skateboard shop in Santa Cruz where he has been offered a job.

Presiding Parole Board Commissioner Terri Turner told Ackerman at the hearing, "Early on, you did blame the victim and you weren't taking responsibility, so that's changed."

Parole trend

Deputy Commissioner Patricia Cassady, the other parole board member at the March parole hearing, told Ackerman "You just don't pose a current risk to society at this time," according to the transcript.

Now on parole, Ackerman will submit to random drug testing. He is also barred from drinking alcohol, the parole board ruled, and he will also be monitored by State Parole.

Ackerman's parole is part of a larger trend of life prisoners being released in California at a much faster rate than in previous years.

The state governor must approve all "lifer" parolee releases, and Gov. Jerry Brown has affirmed more than 80 percent of parole board decisions in the past three years — allowing nearly 1,400 lifers to be released as of February, the Associated Press reported.

Brown's predecessor, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, authorized the release of 557 lifers during his six-year term, sustaining the board just 27 percent of the time, according to the AP. Before that, Gov. Gray Davis approved the release of just two lifers.

Representatives of Brown's office have said the rise in lifer releases is not directly related to the state's prison crowding problems. However, the decisions are bound by court orders to ease stringent parole requirements, governors' representatives said. Each case is addressed individually, they said.

After Ackerman's parole hearing in 2010, prosecutor Jason Gill said Ackerman was a "dangerous guy."

"If he doesn't understand what he did, then there's a chance he could repeat it," said Gill.